London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Covid ‘high alert’ warning as more than 100,000 pupils in England miss school

Covid ‘high alert’ warning as more than 100,000 pupils in England miss school

Headteachers’ leader says government must be ready to act amid big rise in numbers absent

Headteachers say the government needs to be on “high alert” to curb school Covid outbreaks, after more than 100,000 children were absent with confirmed or suspected infections last week – the highest number for England during the pandemic.

The figures from the Department for Education showed that fewer than 92% of pupils were present in classrooms on 16 September, with 59,000 absent with confirmed cases of Covid-19 and a further 45,000 off with suspected cases.

In total, 122,000 children were absent from state schools for Covid-related reasons last week, including 16,000 marked off as isolating and another 2,000 “due to attendance restrictions being in place to manage an outbreak,” according to the DfE.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “These national figures mask some significant issues arising at a local level, and we already know of schools that are struggling to keep classes open due to outbreaks occurring.

“It is crucial that both central and local government are now on high alert and are ready to react quickly if and when cases rise rapidly or outbreaks occur. The next few weeks will be crucial.”

The 103,000 pupils with confirmed or suspected cases is higher than the number at the end of the last school year, a little more than two months ago. In mid-July the DfE said just 82,000 children were absent with Covid cases.

Secondary schools were the worst hit, with nearly one in every 100 pupils off with confirmed Covid cases. Including non-Covid absences, the overall absentee rate for secondary schools was 10%, twice as high as pre-pandemic absences.

One in every 100 teachers in all types of state schools were also absent with Covid last week.

The statistics are the first official signs of the spread of the virus within schools and colleges since the start of the new school year, when the use of preventive measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing and small group “bubbles” was halted by the DfE.

In July more than a million children were absent but that included 930,000 self-isolating because of classroom contacts. This year the DfE has ruled that children who are close contacts of confirmed or suspected cases do not need to self-isolate unless they also display symptoms.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he was aware of schools where “significant numbers” of students were absent.


“We are hopeful that the vaccination programme for 12- to 15-year-olds will help to reduce this level of disruption. However, the government must also take more action to support schools and colleges,” Barton said.

“It should launch a public information campaign to encourage twice-weekly home testing among pupils in the appropriate age groups, provide funding for high-quality ventilation systems in schools and colleges, and commit to providing more support if onsite testing is directed under the contingency framework.”

Barton also urged the government to publish its plans for A-level and GCSE exams in spring, saying it was “extremely frustrating” that guidance had still not been issued.

Nadhim Zahawi, the new education secretary, said it was “fantastic” to see more than 91% of children back in the classroom, compared with 87% at the same time last year.

“That’s down to the hard work of teachers, support staff as well as families, whose efforts have been heroic in making sure children can get back to school safely,” Zahawi said.

“The rollout of the vaccine to those aged 12-15, which started this week, is another significant step in building the walls of protection from the virus across society.”

Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, said: “The Conservatives’ chaotic failure to plan ahead or to listen to Labour, parents and teachers and get ventilation and mitigations in place saw over 122,000 children out of school again last week. This is not good enough. The Conservatives have left schools in a mess; the new education secretary urgently needs to set this right.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×